All Pro all gone

Published: Monday, December 31, 2012 at 5:40 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, December 31, 2012 at 5:40 p.m.

January is typically a time for fitness centers to boost membership as people make New Year's resolutions to get in shape.

For All Pro Fitness on State Road 200, it was time to close its doors.

Owner Bryan Myers said the business had been losing money ever since he took it over from Lee Farkas, former chairman of the now-bankrupt Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. Farkas is now in prison. Myers said that Farkas owed him money and handed over the gym to pay off his debt.

“I stuck with it as long as we could,” Myers said, standing in the middle of the 12,000-square-foot facility as moving men cleared the business. “It's not the members' fault.”

Myers said the lease on the space was finished and he couldn't negotiate a better lease deal with building's owners.

He said the gym, which he bought in 2010, had between 450-500 members.

Myers said he could have stayed open during January, “but what was I going to do, take people's money for two months and then close it?”

Myers has made arrangements with Too Your Health Spa and the Marion County YMCA to give his All Pro Fitness members discounts if they join those gyms.

Fred Schweitz, owner of Too Your Health Spa in Ocala and Dunnellon, said many fitness centers were opened before the recession, when Ocala enjoyed better economic times. He said many people thought such businesses ran themselves.

“It's not an easy business,” he said, adding that some months they don't generate enough revenue to pay the bills.

“But you have to have a passion for the business and you have to understand people,” he said.

Schweitz said he's always been fiscally conservative in operating, improving and expanding his fitness centers.

He said that if an All Pro member joins his gym, he will also give them credit for the time they still had remaining at their previous gym.

“People that come to a health club, it's also their home. They like the people,” he said. “We want them to feel comfortable.”

<p>January is typically a time for fitness centers to boost membership as people make New Year's resolutions to get in shape.</p><p>For All Pro Fitness on State Road 200, it was time to close its doors.</p><p>Owner Bryan Myers said the business had been losing money ever since he took it over from Lee Farkas, former chairman of the now-bankrupt Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. Farkas is now in prison. Myers said that Farkas owed him money and handed over the gym to pay off his debt.</p><p>“I stuck with it as long as we could,” Myers said, standing in the middle of the 12,000-square-foot facility as moving men cleared the business. “It's not the members' fault.”</p><p>Myers said the lease on the space was finished and he couldn't negotiate a better lease deal with building's owners.</p><p>He said the gym, which he bought in 2010, had between 450-500 members.</p><p>Myers said he could have stayed open during January, “but what was I going to do, take people's money for two months and then close it?”</p><p>Myers has made arrangements with Too Your Health Spa and the Marion County YMCA to give his All Pro Fitness members discounts if they join those gyms.</p><p>Fred Schweitz, owner of Too Your Health Spa in Ocala and Dunnellon, said many fitness centers were opened before the recession, when Ocala enjoyed better economic times. He said many people thought such businesses ran themselves.</p><p>“It's not an easy business,” he said, adding that some months they don't generate enough revenue to pay the bills.</p><p>“But you have to have a passion for the business and you have to understand people,” he said.</p><p>Schweitz said he's always been fiscally conservative in operating, improving and expanding his fitness centers.</p><p>He said that if an All Pro member joins his gym, he will also give them credit for the time they still had remaining at their previous gym.</p><p>“People that come to a health club, it's also their home. They like the people,” he said. “We want them to feel comfortable.”</p><p><i>Contact Fred Hiers at fred.hiers@starbanner.com or 867-4157.</i></p>